Dutch court upholds ban on tourist trade in cannabis

AMSTERDAM, April 27 (Reuters) - A controversial law thatwill make it harder for foreign tourists to buy cannabis at theNetherlands' famous coffee shops has been upheld by a Dutchcourt.

The law, which reverses 40 years of liberal drugs policy inthe Netherlands, is targeted at the many foreigners who havecome to see the country as a soft drugs paradise and to tackle arise in crime related to the drug trade.

The law, which goes into force in three southern provinceson May 1 before going nationwide next year, means coffee shopscan only sell cannabis to registered members.

Only locals, whether Dutch or foreign residents, will beallowed to join a coffee shop, and each coffee shop will belimited to 2,000 members. Some users regard the requirement toregister as an invasion of privacy.

Fourteen coffee shop owners and several pressure groupschallenged the law in the courts, saying they should not beasked to discriminate between locals and non-locals.

A lawyer for the coffee shop owners said they would appeal.

The Dutch government, which collapsed at the weekend, hadalso planned to forbid any coffee shops within 350 metres(yards) of a school, with effect from 2014.

The government in October launched a plan to ban what itconsidered to be highly potent forms of cannabis - known as"skunk" - placing them in the same category as heroin andcocaine.